UMUR "Iridium" is the 3rd full-length studio album by Greek death metal act Cerebrum. The album was released through Transcending Obscurity Records in December 2018. It´s the successor to "Cosmic Enigma" from 2013 and features one lineup change as Cerebrum have finally found a permanent drummer in Defkalion Dimos. The drums on both predecessors were played by session drummer George Kollias, who is known for his work with Nile.

Cerebrum started out playing a semi-progressive and technically well played type of early 90s influenced death metal on "Spectral Extravagance (2009)" and upped the progressive and technical tendencies even further on "Cosmic Enigma (2013)" (which featured some fairly odd jazz/fusion moments), but on "Iridium" they´ve scaled back some of the technical/progressive extravangancy of especially the predecessor, so in that respect it´s a more straight forward and simple death metal release. That description should be taken with a grain of salt though, as "Iridium" is still a techncially well played death metal release.

The musicianship is decent too and "Iridium" also features a fairly well sounding production, so on most parameters it´s a decent quality release. The songwriting is not that interesting though, and there are generally very few riffs or catchy vocal phrases to hold on to, and most of the album go by without me noticing anything out of the ordinary. The throaty growling vocal style by vocalist/guitarist Jim Touras is not a plus in my book either. His voice and vocal style sound a bit powerless and lacking any real bite.

Upon conclusion this is not a positive development for Cerebrum, which sound a bit like a band experiencing an identity crises. "Spectral Extravagance (2009)" was a promising debut and "Cosmic Enigma (2013)" was also a decent quality technical/progressive death metal release, but "Iridium" sounds like a step backwards in both songwriting and musicianship and that´s not a positive development three albums in. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Cosmic Enigma" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Greek death metal act Cerebrum. The album was released through Amputated Vein Records in May 2013. Cerebrum released their full-length studio album "Spectral Extravagance" in 2009, which featured a rather prolific guest musician in drummer George Kollias (Nile). The band apparently still haven´t found a suitable drummer because Kollias has laid down the drum tracks for "Cosmic Enigma" too. Another significant lineup change has taken place since the debut album as lead vocalist Apollon Zigomalas has left Cerebrum and guitarist Jim Touras has taken over the lead vocal duties in addition to playing guitar. Bassist George Skullkos was already added to the lineup in 2009, but this is his first studio recording with the band. Guitarist Mike Papadopoulos (who also handled bass on "Spectral Extravagance (2009)" is still with the group.

Despite the lineup changes "Cosmic Enigma" still sounds unmistakably like Cerebrum, which means technically well played and semi-progressive death metal both influenced by early nineties US death metal like Morbid Angel, but also by more progressive extreme acts like Atheist. On "Cosmic Enigma" the technical part of the band´s sound has taken the high seat though and the more old school death metal part of the band´s sound is not as dominant as it was on "Spectral Extravagance (2009)". This is basically brutal technical death metal with some pretty odd jazzy interludes thrown in. Not completely unlike what Cryptopsy did on their 2012 self-titled 7th full-length studio album.

The musicianship is excellent although the monotone and unintelligible growls aren´t that interesting (and they are too low in the mix too). I much prefer Apollon Zigomalas growls, which were brutal yet intelligible.

"Cosmic Enigma" is probably a treat to those who enjoy brutal technical death metal with the occasional progressive/jazzy part thrown in, but personally I can´t help feel that the music sounds a bit "constructed" (technical for the sake of it) and that some of the tempo changes or changes between sections don´t flow that well. To my ears Cerebrum is actually best when they play more straight forward death metal (which they do in some sections) and leave the technical noodling behind. I´m also listening for hooks to hang on to and have found very few, which means that the album isn´t that memorable. Issues aside "Cosmic Enigma" is still a quality release on many levels and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Spectral Extravagance" is the debut full-length studio album by Greek technical/progressive death metal act Cerebrum. The album was released through Lacerated Enemy Records in August 2009. Most of the album was already recorded in April/May of 2007 but I assume it took a couple of years to find the right record company. Cerebrum, which consist of Apollon Zigomalas on vocals, Jim Touras on guitar and Mike Papadopoulos on guitars/bass, didn´t have a drummer in the lineup when they recorded "Spectral Extravagance", but was helped out on the album by drummer George Kollias (Nile, Sickening Horror, Nightfall, The Circle of Zaphyan, System Shock, Extremity Obsession).

The music on the album is technical/progressive death metal with lots of early nineties US death metal sensibilities. The lyrical themes are about astrology, archaeology, and other rather interesting subjects. So Cerebrum is no blood´n´gore type death metal act. Cerebrum mentions acts such as Atheist, Death, Morbid Angel, Gorguts, Watchtower, King Crimson, Pestilence, and Nocturnus among their incluences (I would add Theory in Practice as a reference too). Those influences are quite obvious when listening to "Spectral Extravagance" and while Morbid Angel is probably the least progressive band among those influences it´s especially the Morbid Angel influence that is strong in the music. The music on the album is brutal technical death metal first and foremost and then progressive. The progressive elements on the album are, in addition to the song structures, mostly represented by the odd jazzy part which occur in some songs. There´s an example of that in a track like "Edge of Parallel Circles". All 11 tracks on the album are of a very high quality but if I have to make one small complaint it´s that the progressive parts don´t always fit too well with the rest of the music. All parts are great but the short jazzy parts featured in some of the tracks sometimes sound a bit awkward in the predominantly brutal technical death metal soundscape. Bear in mind that this is a minor, minor complaint on an otherwise excellent album so don´t let this scare you away.

The vocals are deep growls but still intelligible. There are also some sporadic clean vocal parts featured on the music which is definitely a great asset and good for the variation of the album. The clean vocals actually remind me a bit of how David Vincent (Morbid Angel) sounded on "God of Emptiness" from the "Covenant (1993)" album. In these days there´s always a danger of extreme metal acts that include clean singing in their music chose to include commercially accessible clean vocals, but that´s fortunately not the case with Cerebrum. They are quite old school in that regard.

The musicianship on the album is on a high level on all posts. Great razor sharp and fast riffing, excellent growling vocals (and some pretty good clean ones too) and of course some powerful and technically skilled drumming by George Kollias. The guitar solos are generally pretty short but well played and suit the music. The production is professional and well sounding too.

"Spectral Extravagance" is a great quality debut album by Cerebrum and thinking back to the albums I´ve listened to in this genre from 2009 this one is easily one of the best. A 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved. A quality album this one, which I can highly recommend to fans of technical/progressive death metal with an early nineties sensibility.